Direct observation of liquid crystals using cryo‐TEM: Specimen preparation and low‐dose imaging
SCIE
SCOPUS
- Title
- Direct observation of liquid crystals using cryo‐TEM: Specimen preparation and low‐dose imaging
- Authors
- Gao, M.; KIM, YOUNGKI; Zhang, C.; Borshch, V.; Zhou, S.; Park, H. -S.; Jakli, A.; Lavrentovich, O. D.; Tamba, M. -G.; Kohlmeier, A.; Mehl, G. H.; Weissflog, W.; Studer, D.; Zuber, B.; Gnagi, H.; Lin, F.
- Date Issued
- 2014-10
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Abstract
- Liquid crystals (LCs) represent a challenging group of materials for direct transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies due to the complications in specimen preparation and the severe radiation damage. In this paper, we summarize a series of specimen preparation methods, including thin film and cryo-sectioning approaches, as a comprehensive toolset enabling high-resolution direct cryo-TEM observation of a broad range of LCs. We also present comparative analysis using cryo-TEM and replica freeze-fracture TEM on both thermotropic and lyotropic LCs. In addition to the revisits of previous practices, some new concepts are introduced, e.g., suspended thermotropic LC thin films, combined high-pressure freezing and cryo-sectioning of lyotropic LCs, and the complementary applications of direct TEM and indirect replica TEM techniques. The significance of subnanometer resolution cryo-TEM observation is demonstrated in a few important issues in LC studies, including providing direct evidences for the existence of nanoscale smectic domains in nematic bent-core thermotropic LCs, comprehensive understanding of the twist-bend nematic phase, and probing the packing of columnar aggregates in lyotropic chromonic LCs. Direct TEM observation opens ways to a variety of TEM techniques, suggesting that TEM (replica, cryo, and in situ techniques), in general, may be a promising part of the solution to the lack of effective structural probe at the molecular scale in LC studies. Microsc. Res. Tech. 77:754-772, 2014. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- URI
- https://oasis.postech.ac.kr/handle/2014.oak/99502
- DOI
- 10.1002/jemt.22397
- ISSN
- 1097-0029
- Article Type
- Article
- Citation
- Microscopy research and technique, vol. 77, no. 10, page. 754 - 772, 2014-10
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